


The Dursley Witch - Year Two

by Natasja



Series: The Dursley Witch [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen, I swear, not another sister fic, really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-16
Updated: 2015-03-27
Packaged: 2018-03-01 18:17:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2782895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natasja/pseuds/Natasja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roisin is headed back to Hogwarts, along with her maternal cousin, Harry Potter, and her friends.</p><p>Dealing with (another) pathetic Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor is bad enough, but something is stalking the Halls of Hogwarts, and doesn't seem to have got the memo that Slytherin has had enough bad press recently, thank you very much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was a warm day on July 31st, and Roisin Dursley was daydreaming at the kitchen table, happily counting down the days of summer. Only one more day, and she was out of here to visit her extended family in Ireland.

It wasn't that she didn't still care about her immediate family, just that it was very difficult to separate the Magical and Muggle parts of her life, and in the meantime, everyone was uncomfortable, and putting on a show for the neighbours was very tiring.

And then there was the other thing. Despite the volume and the fact that it was happening less than a meter away, Roisin managed to ignore the fight between her parents and her cousin, Harry Potter, over Harry's pet waking them up. Again.

Harry finally gave up the argument and sat back in his seat as Roisin's twin brother, Dudley, belched and demanded more bacon. Roisin pulled a disgusted face as her mother started cooing over him, talking about how she didn't like the sound of the food at Dudley's boarding school.

Roisin barely managed to stifle a noise of disbelief. Her brother was large enough that his bottom draped over both sides of the chair. Dudley didn't need extra nourishment nearly as much as he needed a serious diet before he developed heart problems. Finally realizing that his sister was calmly ignoring him until he asked properly, Dudley turned to Harry instead. "Pass the frying pan."

Harry glared at him. "You forgot the magic word."

Roisin thumped her head on the table as the rest of the room exploded. Dudley fell off his chair with a crash that shook the entire room. Petunia let out a small scream and covered her mouth. Vernon leapt to his feet, a vein throbbing in his temple. Harry obviously recognized the danger signs, as he quickly tried to explain. "I meant please! I didn't mean…"

It was too late, and Vernon had been set off again, completely ignoring Harry's attempts to protest and explain. "WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT SAYING THE M WORD UNDER OUR ROOF? HOW DARE YOU THREATEN DUDLEY! I WARNED YOU, I WILL NOT TOLERATE MENTION OF YOUR ABNORMALITY IN THIS HOUSE!"

Roisin was looking for a quick and un-noticed route out of the kitchen when Vernon finally calmed down, although he was still very red. Relieved that the danger had passed for at least a short time, Roisin quickly finished her breakfast, hoping to avoid any more 'M-word' related incidents.

* * *

In most places, the word 'magic' would bring very little response. Indeed, many parents used it as an enticement to teach their children manners. Number Four Privet Drive, however, was an exception, and with fairly good reason.

Both Harry and Roisin were able to do magic. Not the smoke-and-mirror kind of magic that is performed at parties, but actual, spells-potions-and-enchantments magic. Harry's parents, James Potter and Roisin's Aunt Lily, had been a wizard and witch, but the Dursley family was depressingly normal and as non-magical (the correct term was 'Muggle') as you could get. Well, Roisin's witch of a paternal grandmother had been the one to use the phrase 'depressingly normal' but the point stood.

The Dursleys hated anything that they considered 'Abnormal', and One had to admit, magic was about as abnormal as you got while still being human.

The exception (and real kicker) to this was Roisin's paternal grandparents, Frank and Fionna O'Conner-Dursley. Frank had been a Muggle-Born Wizard, but Fionna was born and raised the daughter of the purely magical O'Conner Clan in Ireland. Roisin was very thankful that she would be going to visit them the next day, and staying for the rest of the holidays.

Roisin was just about to escape the kitchen and finish packing when her father cleared his throat. "Now as we all know, today is a very important day. It could be the day I make the biggest deal of my career."

Roisin sighed; not this again. For weeks now her father had been going on about a rich couple, the Masons, who worked in Building and were thinking about buying a large shipment of drills. Vernon's drill company, Grunnings, had put Vernon in charge of making a good impression and convincing them to accept Grunnings as the main supplier.

Vernon had decided that the best way to do this was to invite the Masons over for dinner. Roisin thought that this was going to be a disaster. She shook her head as her father continued. "I think we should run through the schedule once more. We should all be in position by eight o'clock. Petunia, you will be - ?"

"In the lounge," Petunia replied promptly, scurrying to the door leading to said area, "Waiting to welcome them graciously into our home."

Roisin raised an eyebrow. The Masons were businesspeople, and if they couldn't see through such an obvious act, then she would do something drastic. Wondering how the other members of her family were going to make this even worse, she started paying attention to what Vernon was saying. "Good, good, and Dudley?"

Roisin watched as her brother forced a simpering smile onto his face. "I'll be waiting at the door. 'May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?'"

Petunia clapped her hands. "They'll absolutely love him!"

Roisin marveled at the wonders of self-denial as Vernon turned to her. "Roisin?"

 _Wait, you can't be thinking of including your abnormal offspring, too!_ "I'll be playing the model daughter, quiet and polite, and see what I can say to make you look better."

Vernon looked angry at the phrasing and note of sarcasm, but couldn't really find anything wrong with her comment. He turned to Harry. "And _you_?"

Harry sighed and said, tonelessly, "I'll be in my room, making no noise and pretending I don't exist."

He rolled his eyes at Roisin as soon as Vernon's back was turned. Roisin smirked. Gods, what she wouldn't give to be away from here. Even Crabbe and Goyle, two of her friendship group at Hogwarts, would be better company than this, and they were about as slow as molasses.

Vernon was still speaking. "At eight fifteen – "

"I'll announce dinner." Petunia continued.

"Excellent. And Dudley, you'll say –"

"May I escort you to the dining room, Mrs. Mason?" Dudley mimed offering his arm to an invisible woman. Roisin closed her eyes, ignoring Petunia's praise. She was going to have her work cut out for her if she didn't want the Masons to run screaming before dinner was even served. Dudley would try, certainly, but there was not a twelve-year-old boy in the world who could pull that off.

Vernon continued to outline the doomed strategy. "We should try to get some compliments in before dinner. Any ideas?"

"Vernon tells me you're a wonderful golfer, Mr. Mason… Do tell me where you bought your dress, Mrs. Mason…?"

"How about 'we had to do an essay on our hero at school, Mr. Mason, and I wrote about you.'"

Petunia burst into tears of joy and hugged her son. Roisin barely stopped herself from bursting into tears of despair. You didn't pre-plan complements like that! How would they know if Mr. Mason even _liked_ golf, or what if Mrs. Mason showed up in a tailored suit? School had ended a month ago, and Vernon had only found out that he would be meeting with the Masons a bit over a fortnight ago. There was no way Dudley's compliment would hold any more water than a sieve, if that much.

Roisin sighed. How would Draco or Pansy handle this? "Maybe 'Your outfit looks stunning, Mrs. Mason.' Or 'My dad says that you are an excellent businessman, Mr. Mason. What kind of building do you do?'"

Vernon frowned, but didn't comment as he turned back to Harry, who, in Roisin's opinion, got the better half of the bargain. "And you, boy?"

Shooting his apparently desperate cousin a sympathetic look, Harry repeated his previous statement. "I'll be in my room, making no noise and pretending I don't exist."

Roisin quickly schooled her face into a blank mask as Vernon caught the look. Thankfully, he ignored it. "Too right you will. The Masons don't know anything about you and it's going to stay that way. When dinner is over, Petunia and Roisin can take Mrs. Mason back to the lounge for coffee, and I'll bring the topic round to drills. With any luck," (Gods knew that they'd need it, in Roisin's opinion) "I'll have that contract signed and sealed before the _News at Ten_. We'll be shopping for a holiday home in Majorca this time tomorrow!"

Roisin and Harry chose this point to make an escape as Vernon started on about picking up dinner jackets.

* * *

Harry went outside into the sunshine. Roisin went up to her room to find something suitable for a fancy dinner. She had finally selected a pale green dress and black shoes that her grandmother had given her over the Winter Holidays when there was a loud howl from outside.

Looking out the window, she saw her brother running inside, one hand clamped over his bottom, screaming for their mother. It looked like Harry had been taunting Dudley with magic to make the larger boy leave him alone. Petunia didn't look pleased, and Roisin decided to make herself scarce before her mother decided to try to make Roisin force Harry to stop it. Roisin had found that the best way to deal with things was a policy of mutual avoidance when Dudley was in a stirring mood, but it hadn't caught on with anyone else.

Retrieving books, quill and parchment from her trunk, Roisin started her Defense Against the Dark Arts assignment for the summer.

* * *

At quarter to eight, Roisin had changed and headed downstairs, finding Harry finishing his dinner at top speed and racing upstairs. Dudley and Vernon were in suits and dinner jackets that didn't quite fit properly, and Petunia wore a salmon cocktail dress and pearls. Luckily, the doorbell rang before Roisin had the chance to comment.

The Masons entered, Mrs. Mason wearing a tailored skirt-and-blouse ensemble, and Dudley said his lines. Roisin, who had settled in a chair with her current novel, closed her book and put it to one side as Petunia ushered the Masons into the lounge room. Following them, Dudley sneered and motioned for her to not say anything and just remain quiet.

Roisin narrowed her eyes at him. The heck she would! Slytherins did not obey orders mindlessly, and if she didn't chip in she was sure that the whole thing was going to be a disaster from start to finish!  
She didn't plan on doing anything openly to ruin the night, however, (Her family would probably do a fine job without any of her help) and just smiled politely at the Masons before picking up a pen and notebook that had been lying on a side table.

Mr. Mason was already involved in small talk, but Mrs. Mason did not seem the gossiping type, and looked like she was trying to escape Petunia's tales of the neighborhood. While interesting for a while, there was only so much gossip you could take. Quickly making her way to where Roisin sat, Mrs. Mason joined her. "What is this you're doing, child?"

Roisin looked up and smiled. What a wonderful opportunity to present herself as studious and keep Mrs Mason occupied. "It's a book report for my school. I have to read and summarize a book, and comment on what I did or didn't like and why. I'm afraid I'm not doing very well on properly wording it, though."

Mrs. Mason smiled back. "Book reports aren't usually too hard. What book are you basing it on?"

Roisin was very tempted to burst into maniacal cackling that witches in storybooks were famed for. The book was a fantasy novel, stuffed full of magic and mythical creatures like dragons and unicorns. All children had a phase where they did everything they could to annoy everyone else, and this was going to kill her parents. "It's called _The Willow Tree's Daughter_ by Emily Rodda. It starts with a Prince wanting to go on an adventure before he becomes King, and meeting a willow tree dryad. They fall in love and she goes back with him to be his queen. They have a daughter, Betony, but she is really not the normal kind of princess. Betony is half-dryad, so she'd rather work in the garden than dance or embroider, and she gets into all sorts of adventures, like facing down her sorceress grandmother and falling in love with the Gardener's Boy. Princes come to ask for her hand, and she makes them tend a garden for a year and a day, and marries the Gardener's Boy when they can't do it."

Roisin could see her family struggling not to burst into hysterics, and mentally congratulated herself on a job well done, especially since she was making her plan up as she went along. Mrs. Mason nodded at her explanation. "Well, that sounds like a good start to a summery, now what didn't you like about it?"

Mrs. Mason liked Fantasy books and was focusing her attention on the Freak of the family! Roisin couldn't have come up with something more antagonistic if she had tried!

It was at this point that they were interrupted by a loud ' _thump'_ and loud yelps from upstairs. Vernon forced a smile and hurried upstairs, mumbling an excuse about Dudley having left the television on by accident. Roisin knew that he was going up to yell at Harry, who really needed to learn subtlety. There were better ways for him to ruin things, and several more that were less likely to get him caught and punished!

Petunia, who had been growing paler by the second, interrupted to announce dinner. Roisin put down her book and followed everyone into the Dining Room, shooting a gleeful smirk at her brother, who scowled.

* * *

Dinner was Roast Pork, accompanied by vegetables and oven-roasted potatoes and pumpkin. Desert was displayed on the sideboard, a huge mound of cream and sugared violets that Roisin knew for a fact Petunia had spent hours making.

Conversation continued fairly well, as Petunia obviously couldn't use her 'such a lovely dress' line and Roisin had already used the 'School report' one, which forced them to pay attention in order to make real conversation. Dinner had just been finished and Roisin and Dudley were clearing away the plates as a show of good up-bringing when there was the sound of someone running down the stairs and a loud crash.

Running into the kitchen, they were greeted with the sight of Harry absolutely covered with what _had_ been the cream-and-violet pudding. The Masons were ushered back into the lounge room, leaving Harry to clean up the mess, and Vernon breathed a somewhat-more-obvious-than-he-might-have-hoped sigh of relief, trying to gloss things over.

It was beginning to look like he might actually manage it, and Mr. Mason had actually brought out the contract and started to sign when they were interrupted again, this time by a large owl carrying a letter, which it dropped directly onto Mrs. Mason's lap.

Mrs. Mason let out a piercing scream and ran out, leaving Mr. Mason to inform them that his wife was petrified of birds and demand if they thought this was some kind of joke. They left abruptly and Vernon rounded on Harry, who had entered the room to see what the fuss was about. The letter, as it turned out, was a notification from the Use of Underage Magic Office, reminding Harry that he was forbidden to use magic outside of school and a warning that any further magic would see him expelled from Hogwarts.

Seeing her father advance on Harry with an almost maniacal grin on his face, Roisin decided that this might not be the best time to point out that at least they had signed their half of the contract and left it behind, and made herself scarce.

 

 

 


	2. Escape to the Burow

Roisin's portkey to the O'Conner Keep was due to leave at 5 a.m. on August 1st, bringing her to the Keep in time for the Lughnasadh festival. Leaving before anyone in the house was even stirring, Roisin had managed to escape wrath and general chaos for a few days. She freely admitted that this was taking the coward's way out, but she needed a break.

Lughnasadh was the celebration of the beginning of the harvest. There were contests of strength and skill, horse riding, and invoking the blessings of the gods to ask for a good harvest.

The celebration was two-fold this year, as one of the older girls who had taken Roisin under her wing was to undergo the Handfasting, or 'Trial Marriage', ceremony to a young man by the name of Sean Muldoon. Another couple, Aislin and Bran, would complete their Handfasting and either leave the union, or become married on a permanent basis.

There had been a few teasing comments about how they could finally get rid of each other, but these were largely ignored. As Seamus had pointed out to Roisin (who had been too glad at escaping more Hogwarts-based questions to protest the change of topic) the couple was "so in love that it's just silly."

The Lughnasadh festival lasted from the 1st of August to the 2nd and two days after that, disaster struck. While the Clan frowned on relationships with non-magical persons, association was accepted. Unfortunately, some half-blood and the occasional muggle-born friends did not have access to an owl, and so sent messages to a drop-box in a nearby town. The town was visited every few days to collect any mail, and this time a letter for Roisin and Fionna spelled trouble.

Vernon and Petunia had used their status as her legal guardians to instantly send a message to the O'Conner Clan, forbidding Roisin to stay with her grandmother for the rest of the holidays and return home immediately, regardless of protests.

* * *

Inspired by the newfound knowledge that Hogwarts Students were not allowed to do magic during the holidays, Vernon and Petunia ignored the facts that Roisin's highest score had been in potions, a non-wand-waving subject, and that Fionna didn't _need_ magic to be intimidating. They had calmed down after Roisin left a note pointing out that Mr Mason had signed his half of the contract, but they were still furious at Harry, who was - to put it politely - confined to his room for the forseeable future.

There were bars on the window of the study that had been converted into Harry's bedroom last year, and he was allowed out for toilet breaks three times a day. The rest of the time, he was on a steady diet of bread, water, and the occasional tin of soup, delivered by Roisin, who had actually gone up in her parents favour. Magical Roisin might be, but 'at least she hadn't gone around doing magic when she wasn't allowed to, drawing the attention of other freaks and ruining important deals in the process'. Apparently, they hoped that this attempt at acting normal would rub off on Harry if she was there.

This was better than what could have happened, and at least Harry wasn't back in the cupboard, but it still did not a happy arrangement make. Roisin believed her cousin's story about the maniac house-elf, but that didn't make it any more pleasant. The house-elf had better hope that she _never_ got her hands on it.

Roisin was _so_ telling her grandmother about this. Money and Power and Influence ruled the Wizarding World. The O'Conner Clan had plenty of the first two, and several of Roisin's friends had family wielding the third. Roisin was a Slytherin to the bone, even if she did have a streak of Hufflepuff loyalty. Slytherins didn't get mad, they got viciously even. At the very least, they could find out who the House Elf belonged to, and do something unplesant to them.

The worst part was that Hedwig was locked up, and Roisin wasn't about to court disaster by using an unlocking charm, which meant that there was no way to write to anyone else. Perhaps it would be a good idea to ask Fionna for her own owl for her birthday. There was a consolation, however. Roisin might not have been able to do magic, and Hedwig may have been locked up, but her friends would certainly get worried if she didn't reply for too long. Prolonged lack of contact might even be worth it to see her family's reaction to Fionna and Professor Snape showing up to find out what happened to her.

Then again, Harry was already in trouble, and it wasn't worth giving Professor Snape any more ammunition, or straining relations between Fionna and her son any more than they already were.

* * *

Roisin had never been a heavy sleeper, and summer homework had kept her up late. She had barely started to close her eyes when she spotted something outside the window and bolted upright with a gasp.

A Ford Angelica was driving past her second-storey window, driven by three freckled red-heads who could only be those bloody Weasleys! That was confirmed when Ron peered through the mostly-shut curtains, whispering loudly back to his brothers. "No, this one is just O'Conner. Try the next window."

Bugger that for a Game of Soldiers! Roisin threw on her dressing gown and slippers, thankful that her bedroom was nearest to the converted study. At the very least, they needed to make sure that the Weasleys didn't wake anyone else up! Roisin's mother might have been a big gossip, but she was far from the only one on the street; just imagine if someone woke up and saw the flying car!

Slipping down the hall, she knocked on Harry's door as loudly as she dared, pressing her ear to the door as she heard the creak of a window being opened and Harry's voice, which was at least quiet. "Ron, what are you doing here?"

Roisin pressed her ear closer in order to hear the other boy's reply. "Rescuing you, of course. Why haven't you been answering my letters? I've asked you to stay about twelve times, and then Dad comes home and says that you received a warning about use of Underage Magic. What happened? You know we're not supposed to do magic outside of school."

Roisin fought the urge to huff. The idiots had somehow enchanted a car to fly, or at least had someone else enchant it for them, and had driven it into a Muggle neighborhood! Now _they_ were going on about underage magic?

Harry seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Roisin, and she could imagine him staring pointedly at the car. "Bit rich coming from you."

Roisin closed her eyes and took a deep breath, unsure if she wanted this to be a hallucination. Escape was a wonderful concept, certainly for Harry, but escape via _flying car_? Just the noise was enough to start to wake her parents up any minute now, and what if they were still flying by the time the sun came up or the early-risers were up and driving to work?

Harry and Ron were still quietly discussing use of Underage Magic and whether or not the car counted. Finally, they got around to the actual point of how Harry was going to get out without using magic. Ron Weasly's answering grin worried her. "Don't worry; you forget who I've got with me."

Well, yes, the Weasley Twins could get in or out of nearly anywhere, but they were not always subtle. The advantages were obvious: If anyone could get them out safely, and without using magic, the self-proclaimed (even if the title was well deserved) Pranksters Extraordinaire could.

On the other hand, _they were driving a flying car_ , and nearly every member of Hogwarts who had a working brain also had a healthy wariness for _anything_ those two were involved in, no matter how safe it _seemed_.

There was the sound of a car going into sudden and fast reverse, and a clang that suggested that it had ripped the bars right out of the wall. Down the hall, Roisin heard her father give a sigh, but thankfully made no other indication that he had heard anything.

There was the sound of scratching at the lock, and Roisin stepped away just as it opened, revealing a Weasley Twin crouched down at doorknob height, a piece of wire in his hand. For a moment, all four boys froze, then relaxed when they realized that it was only her. The twin at the door stood up slowly. "Mind if I go get Harry's trunk? Only, we don't want to stick around."

Roisin stepped aside and went to fetch her own trunk. After Roisin had been introduced to Blaise's mother at the Station, after a issue with the Floo had caused any number of late parental pick-ups, the few adults present had put feather-light and shrinking charms on the trunk of various students, and started organizing those who were meant to be traveling by Floo into groups to go to the Leaky Cauldron, which was not far away, and Floo from there. Luckily, both charms activated with a tap of the wand, so it could not even really be considered underage magic. Roisin had then hidden the trunk in her closet as soon as she got home, for the sake of peace and discretion, while her family was busy trying to get Harry's trunk away from him.

Roisin got back to Harry's room just as the Weasley twin did, he and Ron wrestling Harry's trunk into the car. From her parent's room, Roisin heard her father cough.

Knowing that they were pressed for time, Roisin picked up her own trunk just as Hedwig let out a loud screech.

This was followed immediately by a shout of "THAT RUDDY OWL!"

Realizing that he had nearly forgotten Hedwig, Harry clambered back inside to fetch his owl, and Roisin took the opportunity to push her trunk into the back seat. There was no way she was staying here to deal with the fall-out.

The twin in the driver's seat frowned at her. "We came to pick up Harry, and I don't know if there's enough room for you and another trunk! Get off!"

Roisin ignored him, measuring the distance from the car to the window. It wasn't too much higher, placing the top of the closed door at about the same height as one of the smaller horses that she had ridden while visiting Ireland during the previous holidays. She swung herself into the car, ignoring the glaring twin. "You're Gryffindors, you'll survive. You have nothing I want aside from a lift away from here, since there is no way I'm sticking around to try and explain this. Say you abducted me because you were worried that I'd raise the alarm."

Any further argument was cut off as Vernon battered down the door and lunged for Harry, who was half-way back out the window. Vernon grabbed Harry by the ankle. Roisin let out a yelp as Ron Weasly landed on her leg as he and the Twins grabbed Harry's arms, starting a human tug-of-war.

Roisin moved as far away as the limited confines of the car would allow, trying to remain un-noticed as Vernon yelled for her mother. "Petunia, he's getting away! HE'S GETTING AWAY!"

This brought Petunia and Dudley running just as the Weaslys gave a giant heave and dragged Harry into the car, leaving the rest of the Dursley family hanging out of the window.

Finally getting out of there, the rescuers and escapees settled back for the drive, letting Hedwig out to float on silent wings behind them. Roisin closed her eyes and leaned back, listening with one ear as Harry explained the events that had gotten them into the mess in the first place.

She started paying more attention when one of the Weasley Twins (Roisin had given up trying to keep them separate long ago) asked if it was some kind of prank, but who would want to do something that might get Harry expelled.

Ron and Harry exchanged a look, coming up with an immediate answer. "Draco Malfoy. He hates me."

The other Weasley Twin turned around sharply. "Draco Malfoy? Not Lucius Malfoy's son?"

Roisin rolled her eyes. With as blood-fanatic as that line traditionally was, there weren't a whole lot of them, and even if there were, Draco was hardly a commonly used name. Also, regardless of his father's alleged actions (since she had no hard facts on the matter, Roisin wasn't really interested in arguing about it), Draco just wasn't Death Eater Material.

As speculation turned to whether or not the Malfoys even _owned_ a house-elf, Roisin decided it was time to interject. "The Malfoy family is old and rich enough to have dozens of house-elves, but I doubt they sent the wretched thing to you. Draco may be far more impulsive than a Slytherin should, but he would insist on getting you in trouble personally. Draco is my friend and Housemate, but he isn't nearly subtle enough to pull something like this off."

The other occupants of the car looked frankly disbelieving, but as the topic had reached a proverbial dead-end, the conversation turned to what the Weaslys had been up to and what had prompted them to come and check on Harry. It turned out that Mr. Weasley, their father, was obsessed with Muggles and had enchanted the car to fly.

"So does your Dad know that you have the car?" Harry finally asked. Roisin rolled her eyes, wasn't the answer that he certainly didn't kind of obvious? No parent was going to let a pair of fourteen-year olds drive a flying car without supervision, especially in the middle of the night.

The conversation turned to Mr. Weasley and his job at the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic. Roisin closed her eyes again and tried to get some amount of sleep.

* * *

She was woken again when one of the Twins pointed out the main road. "We should be there in about ten minutes. Just as well, it's starting to get light."

There was a faint pinkish glow on the horizon, and Roisin could see a dark patchwork of fields and trees as the driving Twin started to bring the car lower.

They landed with a small bump next to a tumbledown garage in a small yard in front of the Weasley house. Roisin had to give the dwelling credit; it was a far cry from the Dursley residence.

The house looked like it had once been a large stone pigsty, with rooms added on at random intervals until it was several stories high. It had four or five crooked chimneys, and if not for the existence of magic, Roisin was sure it would have collapsed long ago. A lopsided sign proclaimed it 'The Burrow', a jumble of Wellington boots surrounded the front door, and several fat chickens pecked their way across the yard.

It would have given Petunia Dursley a heart attack.

They all got out of the car as the Weasley Twins outlined their plan. "Now we'll all go upstairs really quietly, and then wait until Mum calls us down for breakfast. Then Ron, you'll come bounding downstairs, going 'Hey, Mum, look who turned up during the night!' She'll be so pleased to see Harry and no one need ever know that we flew the car."

Roisin couldn't believe her ears as the Weasley Twins looked pleased with themselves. That was it? Sneak in, pretend Harry had shown up during the night, and hope their mother didn't ask too many questions?

They were talking about a parent, and parents almost _always_ knew if a child had been doing something they shouldn't. Ottery St. Catchpole was nowhere near Little Whinging, how were Harry and Roisin supposed to have made their way here? Why were they here without an invitation or Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's prior knowledge? Roisin had no association with the Weasleys, so why would she be there instead of with family or other school friends?

Things were going to go to Hell in a hand basket, and Roisin was going to be the unfortunate bystander caught in the backlash.

The Weasleys apparently also had a sudden realization that this wouldn't work, as Ron had just turned an interesting shade of green at the sight of Mrs. Weasley approaching, looking remarkably like a saber-toothed tiger.

Roisin tried to make herself as un-noticeable as possible as Mrs. Weasley reached them, looking from one guilty face to the next. She shook her head as one of the Weasley Twins (Fred, she thought?) tried to calm his mother down in what he obviously hoped was a jaunty, winning voice. It wasn't going to work.

Roisin recognized the soft, dangerous tone in Mrs. Weasley's voice. It was one that Professor Snape used when highly upset about something. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"

Roisin winced. Oh, boy, this was not going to be pretty. "Sorry, Mum, but see, we had to-."

The Weasley boys cowered as Mrs. Weasley's wrath washed over them. " _Beds empty… No note… Car gone! Could have crashed… Out of my mind with worry… Did you care? Never, as long as I've lived… You wait until your father gets home! We never had trouble like this from Bill or Charlie or Percy…"_

The other twin chose that moment to mutter "Perfect Percy."

Roisin winced again. Their mother was in the middle of a rant already, was the idiot _trying_ to make things worse? She was proven right when Mrs. Weasley's voice rose another few octaves. "YOU COULD DO WITH TAKING A LEAF OUT OF PERCY'S BOOK! You could have _died_! You could have been _seen_! You could have lost your father his job…"

Parental scoldings always seem to go on longer than they actually do, but even staying out of the line of fire, Roisin thought that it certainly went on a long time. Mrs. Weasley had shouted herself hoarse before she turned to Harry and Roisin. Harry backed away. Roisin looked for the fastest exit.

"Of course I'm very pleased to see you, Harry dear, come inside and have some breakfast. Oh, and who might you be?"

Obviously, Roisin hadn't been mentioned in whatever the Weasleys had told their mother, but there was no reason for her to have been. "Roisin O'Conner, ma'am. Harry's my cousin."

Thankfully, Mrs. Weasley smiled. "My boys never mentioned you, but come and join us anyway."

Perhaps the Weasley Matriarch was more tolerant of House differences than her sons? Roisin certainly hoped so as she followed Mrs. Weasley toward the house and into a small and rather cramped kitchen. Roisin joined Harry at a scrubbed table and looked around. She had seen magical cookbooks, the WWN and things like the clock at the O'Conner Keep (a location clock was invaluable in keeping track of active young family members, Nessa had told her. With Mary and Seamus as examples, it was hard to disagree.) and smirked at Harry's obvious fascination.

Mrs. Weasley bustled around making breakfast, still muttering about how she couldn't believe her sons had done such a thing, and assuring Harry that of course she didn't blame him.

"It was cloudy, Mum," Probably-Fred Weasley insisted, his mouth full.

"Keep your mouth closed while you are eating!" Mrs. Weasley snapped.

"They were starving him, Mum," said George.

"And you!"

Luckily, there was a diversion in the form of a small, red-haired girl in a long nightdress who appeared in the doorway, squealed, and ran out again. Roisin blinked, echoing Harry's quizzical look at the Weasley boys. Ron explained in an undertone, "Ginny. Our sister. She's been talking about you all summer."

Fred snickered. "Yeah, she'll be wanting your autograph." He caught his mother's eye and bent back over his plate. Silence reigned until all of the plates were empty, which took surprisingly little time. Or perhaps not so surprisingly, as the other table occupants were all growing boys.

Fred set down his knife and fork with a yawn. "Blimey, I'm tired. I think I'll go to bed and-."

"You will not!" Mrs. Weasley snapped. "It's your own fault that you've been up all night. You're going to de-gnome the garden for me, they're getting completely out of hand."

Roisin raised an eyebrow as the Weasley boys moaned; surely they hadn't expected to get off _that_ easily? Still, the boys obviously knew better than to complain as they headed out the door to start de-gnoming. Harry was about to follow when Roisin touched his arm, "Harry, you know how you said Hedwig needed exercise…"

Harry grinned. "Yes, you can borrow Hedwig. You know that was nowhere near subtle, right?"

Roisin tossed her hair and smirked, fetching parchment and quill from her trunk, resting with Harry's just inside the door. "Subtlety is wasted on Gryffindors. I need to tell Nana what happened and where we are now. Then I need to send a letter to Desdemona and the others, they'll be freaking out by now."

Harry suddenly looked like he was re-considering letting her use Hedwig. "You're going to send Hedwig to Malfoy?"

Roisin rolled her eyes. The entire school knew about the rivalry between Harry and Draco, she wasn't fool enough to send Harry's owl to Draco, if only because he'd probably ignore it on principle. "No, I'm going to send all of the letters to Desdemona, with a note asking her to distribute them. I'm not sure that Blaise is back from Italy yet, anyway, and I won't send Hedwig that far."

Harry shrugged. "Fine, then. Join us outside when you're done?"

Roisin nodded distractedly, and then started on her letters. The first one was to Fionna.

_Dear Nana,_

_You are probably worried about my lack of communication by now. My parents were more than a little upset about the House-Elf Incident, and confined Harry to hi room, locking Hedwig in her cage. I suppose I really should stop relying on being able to borrow Hedwig or a School Owl all the time._

_The Weasley twins broke us out last night, and we are currently at their home, The Burrow, near Ottery St. Catchpole. I have also written my friends with an explanation, but as yet have no current plans for the rest of the summer. I hope to be able to return to the O'Conner Keep, if that is agreeable._

_Yours Faithfully_

_Roisin O'Conner._

The next letter was to Desdemona. Roisin had started to run low on parchment, and decided to send a general letter, trusting her friend to pass it on.

_To Desdemona,_

_First of all, I am_ _ so _ _sorry I haven't written until now. There was an incident with some insane house-elf that had Harry being blamed for underage magic and me being dragged back from the Keep for confinement and no method of communication, since Harry's Owl wasn't allowed out, and I'm pretty sure none of you have a telephone._

_I am free now, thankfully, as the Weasleys came to rescue Harry and I joined them before they could protest. I am currently at the Weasley house and have already written Grandmother to get me out of here. The abundance of Gryffindors is killing me._

_I am running low on parchment, so could you pass the message onto the others? Is Blaise back from Italy yet? When are you going to Diagon Alley for supplies? Perhaps we could make it a group outing._

_I have to go now; paranoia over the Weasley twins in close proximity is setting in. I know that sounds rude, but you've met those two. Hopefully I will see you soon._

_Yours in Friendship,_

_Roisin O'Conner._

Folding both letters, Roisin closed them with the personalized seal that Fionna had given her over Lughnasadh. A carved relief of a single rose, surrounded by Latinized Furthrak Runes from the Viking invasion: her name on the top half, and the clan motto ' _Constant and True'_ on the lower half.

Giving the letters to Hedwig, Roisin watched the owl's flight for a few moments, and then headed outside, just in time to duck a badly-aimed gnome.

Straightening up and glaring at her sheepish-looking cousin, Roisin sighed. She really hoped that Hedwig would return soon.

 

 


End file.
